


Because I Could Not Stop for Death

by komagayda



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Ice Skating, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, In which Viktor is the grim reaper, M/M, and Yuuri can see death, it's funnier than it sounds, mlm author
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 16:40:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11948328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komagayda/pseuds/komagayda
Summary: "He kindly Stopped for Me" -Emily DickinsonYuuri Katsuki could see death.He never asked for the ability, it justhappenedto him.As such, he became innately familiar with how Death works. It's simple.Death doesn't speak, death cannot be stopped or avoided, death is an inescapable part of the natural order of things. It stalks its way through the crowd, wordlessly touches its chosen victim and spirits them away to the great beyond.At least, that's how things are supposed to go.So why then, did Death greet him that rainy Friday morning?





	Because I Could Not Stop for Death

**Author's Note:**

> No real content warnings except for the obvious warning about death.  
> and a mention of animal death (it's not graphic or detailed though, so if you're sensitive to such things please proceed with caution).
> 
> As for that character death flag... well, it's alarming but I promise the whole thing is less... grim than it sounds.  
> (booooo that pun was awful)

Yuuri Katsuki had a talent for seeing death in crowds.

                It wasn’t as though he’d asked for it, it just happened one day.

                One morning he was a fairly ordinary ten-year-old boy, walking home from school and the next he was made all too aware of his infinitesimally minimal place on the grand cosmic scale of things. In retrospect, he supposed he should be more deeply concerned about such things, but the surprisingly precocious realisation that he was but a tiny gnat in the spawning, spiralling chaos that was the universe had taken a back seat to the fact that he had not only:

  1. Narrowly avoided being flattened by Mack Truck speeding out of control on a wet country road, and…
  2. Witnessed said truck careening into a ravine, taking not only its inebriated conductor with it, but Yuuri’s own beloved family pet and loyal canine companion as well, and…
  3. Felt the strange, cold hand of a stranger yank him out of the way, only for him to turn around and see nothing but a flash of silvery light in the place he could’ve sworn whoever had effectively saved him from becoming another tragic casualty had previously been standing.



                At first, he, his family, his counsellors and all his friends had collectively assumed and decided that what came next was some sort of panic response, a lingering paranoid delusion that naturally accompanied the vast trauma of seeing such a tragic accident. It was understandable, he was, after all, merely a little boy when it had occurred, such things were bound to emotionally scar a child... However, it was clear that this was not the case. True, it _was_ absolutely a terrible, awful memory and something that Yuuri had no intention of revisiting, but as time moved on, it was clear that it was no mere figment of a damaged psyche or overactive imagination. No, Yuuri Katsuki, for all intents and purposes, had simply developed a talent for seeing Death in crowds.

                The differences, he’d realised, were subtle at first.

                After all, one does not simply become as prolific, as simultaneously feared, revered, welcomed and ignored as Death is by being _obvious_ about it. No, it was the little things, little things that observant people could probably pick out as being slightly _abnormal_ that made the grim reaper so clearly noticeable in the sea of otherwise normal, mundane and non-deathly every day human beings. Little quirks like movement that was a little _too_ purposeful, feet that didn’t seem to quite make as much contact with the floor as they should, bright eyes that were equally full of hope and sadness, the lack of reflections in puddles and mirrors and storefront windows, a shadow that never quite seemed to match the person it belonged too... The shape of death was unimportant, sometimes they looked like a stoic and serious young man with dark eyes, and other times like a young woman with bright red hair and milky white skin and other times still a curly-haired dog with a lolling tongue and friendly eyes. It was all about the little things, after all. 

  
                Yuuri liked the dog best, all things considered. Something about it was vaguely comforting, he could imagine being taken away by a big friendly mutt being less unpleasant than any of the alternatives. The cold embrace of the eternal void was not so bad if it was covered in fluff, had a waggly tail and drooled way too much.

                However, in terms of how he came to recognise death, the biggest clue that gave it all away was the fact that, mere moments after witnessing death in its myriad of forms, some horrible tragic accident would occur and someone would inevitably end up requiring death’s unique set of services. Regrettably, this was the part Yuuri had the most experience with… Whether it was a salary man falling into an open sewer grate, a dizzy pigeon smacking against a window, or a friendly little old lady simply having a heart attack and keeling over mid-pleasant greeting, he'd witnessed what he considered _way too much_ for such a relatively short life. It was, as he would eloquently put it, _kind of messed up if you really think about it._

                Like at that exact moment, at 10:25 AM on a Friday morning. It was the kind of Friday where it seemed like the universe was gearing up for a particularly terrible weekend. The air was damp and cold, abnormally so for the end of August, which had up until that point, been a fairly warm and temperate time of sunshine and final celebrations before the end of summer vacation, as opposed to rain and wind and murky gray skies. He sighed, pulling up his hood, his feet making unpleasantly squishy wet noises against the slick pavement as water soaked through his ancient trainers. He silently cursed the fact that he’d spent his money on replacing his deep-fried laptop instead of his shoes, but bitterly remembered that, in the long run, you can’t be an English major without some device to type your wordy essays and analyses of 20th century Irish Lesbian Love Poetry.

                …and so, his socks would remain damp and waterlogged.

                 _Can this week possibly, possibly get any worse…_ He thought to himself as he gripped the plastic shopping bag in his cold, wet hands. He shivered as an errant drop of rainwater trickled down his neck, tracing an icy path down his spine, quickly answering his rhetorical question for him. He quickened his pace, multiplying the unpleasant wet slapping noises by a good fifty percent. _First the computer, then you run out of coffee, then the rain… I mean it, this is fucking brilliant. Someone please, just kill me now._

                He immediately regretted that thought, feeling his heart race as he saw the shadow from the corner of his eye. It seemed like a relatively normal human figure, carrying a dark umbrella, equally pressed to get out of the miserable weather as he was…

                And normally, that would’ve been the end of it, he would not pay the stranger any mind and would instead be back to mentally griping about his current workload and the utterly coffee-less state of his being, and how he was absolutely not a morning person and should not have to exist at the moment, let alone be outside after a night of negotiating the cost of computer repairs from his landlord’s little brother (because something seemed ludicrous about paying the extra eight hundred at the shop, namely that he, of course, _did not, in fact, have the extra eight hundred before the start of a new semester, don't be ridiculous_ ). At the moment, however, something caught his attention.

                 _No reflection… I wonder whose turn it is this time?_

                He looked around, his heart pounding in his chest as he desperately tried to pinpoint the reason behind the figure’s presence. There would’ve been a time where he would’ve desperately tried to get that person’s attention, try to warn them of the impending danger, only to realise once he'd inevitably failed that there’s no stopping death. It was the only certain fact of life, along with taxes and Elvis impersonators.

                Once someone’s supposed to die, that’s it.

                Now he only looked, wide-eyed, trying to see just who was scheduled to shuffle off the mortal coil and, well, he didn’t quite know what to do. Usually, he would just give them a pitying smile, a tight-lipped sort of thing that maybe expressed some form of sympathy laced with fear and regret. He knew that look well, it was the helpless look Christophe, the resident counselor at the university would give him when he’d bring this exact sort of situation up.

                A sort of “ _Well, You’re fucked. Sorry about that ol’ chap,”_ facial expression.

                Maybe it was all he could do, sort of smile in that weird mutual understanding that life, as strange as it is, will find a way… Or rather, in this case, death would.

                His pulse stalled as he came to the realisation that he was alone. Not a soul, not even a distracted salaryman or foolhardy squirrel was around. The street was completely devoid of anything but the pounding rain, Yuuri’s shallow breath, and the stranger with the black umbrella walking gingerly towards him…

He felt his legs become leaden as he dropped the bag. His mind begged him to run, to flee, to do something, but he knew it would be entirely pointless. Instead, he merely stood, raindrops clouding the lenses of his glasses with tiny blurry blips, obscuring the man who was now a mere few feet away from him.

                 _Hey universe, I didn’t mean it literally. I’m pretty sure I’m too young to die… Right?  
_                                     _This must be some cosmic mistake…_

                                                 _Unless this is a Final Destination type situation, in which case, well played._

                He took his glasses off with shaky hands.

                At least he would finally see Death up close and personal before his time would come…

                He squinted slightly as he tried to make out the slightly blurry features of the man in front of him. He looked to be in his thirties, tall and dignified looking with clear blue eyes looking ahead behind long lashes. His hair was silver, well coiffed and gave him the air of a man who had his life in order, perhaps a stylist or a celebrity or something of that calibre. This impression was certainly aided by his attire, a neatly ironed pair of fitted dress pants paired with what looked like a strangely warm woollen coat ( _does death get a little chilly?_ Yuuri wondered to himself). His expression was sombre, with a tinge of melancholy dancing in those bright blue eyes, clouding them with something intangible...

                No, they were tears. Tangible ones, it seemed.

                 _Was Death crying?_

                 _D_ _oes Death always cry like this?_

                 _No, that couldn’t be. In fourteen years of watching Death, I know Death doesn’t speak. Death doesn't cry. Death doesn't stop. Death doesn’t say anything, they just touch the person and then… and then… what happens then?_

                Yuuri was about to ask, when suddenly the man’s eyes met Yuuri’s, a soft smile gently spreading across his face as he cocked his head to the side in a movement that was almost childlike.

                “Hello, Yuuri…”

                 _Death Spoke. That's new..._

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Noa, do you ever stop to finish something before starting a new thing considering that you have three ongoing AUs and one trauma fueled exploration of life already?
> 
> Well no. I don't cause I have ADHD and no one will stop this sinful hand.
> 
> Oh well, I promise everything else is getting worked on as well! I hope you can enjoy this one too~!!  
> (Bad Author! Doing All The Things All The Time! TISK TISK)


End file.
